$ilver lining: OT at MTA plummets 24%

The coronavirus has taken 24 percent off the MTA’s overtime tab, according to newly released documents.

The agency with an annual budget of some $18 billion has paid $333 million in overtime through April of this year, compared with $437 million over the same period in 2019.

In April alone, OT expenses were down nearly half from 2019, to $59 million from $111 million.

The bulk of the new savings come from the MTA’s city bus and subway division, which reduced service in late March to cope with thousands of workers out sick due to the coronavirus. City transit OT spending is $12.4 million under budget through April, followed by $4.1 million in savings at Metro-North, $7.3 million at the Long Island Rail Road and $1.7 million at MTA Bridges and Tunnels. Altogether, the MTA is $28 million, or 8 percent, under budget on overtime spending for the year so far.

The agency was $97 million over its overtime budget at the same time last year — en route to more than $1 billion total.

The steep drop in OT spending in April coincided with thousands of workers calling out sick after either contracting the coronavirus or being exposed to someone with virus symptoms, noted MTA board member Andrew Albert.

Albert said he expects OT costs to increase going forward to meet the ongoing needs of the pandemic — including the costs related to cleaning, public safety and running as many trains as possible to prevent crowding.

“There’s so much to be done now, between cleaning, sanitizing every surface, having additional police to make sure the system is safe,” Albert said.